PLEASE
NOTE: News.bytes was delayed until Friday this week due
to technical difficulties. We plan to return to an earlier-in-the-week
schedule with the next issue.

BLM
COMPLETING DESERT LAND USE PLANS

"REPORT TO FOCUS ON HABITAT CONSERVATION" (San Bernardino
County Sun, 01/07/2003)
"Twenty-nine local, state and federal agencies and special interest
groups are preparing the West Mojave Plan, which is intended to conserve
more than 100 endangered and sensitive species threatened by urban encroachment."
San Bernardino County' land use services department public meeting is
Jan. 16.http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1095071,00.html

"DESERT LAND USE PLAN BLASTED" (Victorville Daily Press,
12/27/2002)
"In a decision soundly criticized by county officials, environmentalists
and ranchers, [the BLM] has approved a land use plan outlining conservation
strategies to manage sensitive species -- including the endangered desert
tortoise-- and habitats on public land administered by the BLM. The Northern
and Eastern Mojave Plan, or NEMO, covers 2.7 million acres in San Bernardino,
Inyo and Mono counties."http://www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1041008447,32659,

WEED
OF THE WEEK - Canadian thistle
Inhabits well-drained, light-textured soils along roadsides, in wildlands,
grain fields and pastures. It becomes established most easily in disturbed
soils and is very difficult to control once it has become established.http://www.ca.blm.gov/bishop/canadathistle.html

WILDLIFE
TRIVIA: How much food do shrews have to consume each day
in order to stay alive?(See answer near the end of this issue of News.bytes)

"PALEONTOLOGISTS TRACK
DOWN DINOSAURS IN THE DESERT" (San Bernardino County Sun, 12/28/2002)
Paleontologists and volunteers preserve "fossil tracks of dinosaurs
that roamed the once-humid Mojave Desert up to 70 million years ago."
Casts for display prepared at Desert Discovery Center, sponsored by organizations
including BLM California.http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1078217,00.html

"EX-MARSH
HAS WET FUTURE; Harper Dry Lake will receive water" (Los Angeles
Daily News, 01/03/2003)
"Harper Dry Lake, a desolate and dusty desert expanse that looks
like a moonscape, will be going from dry to wet this year. With help from
nonprofit group Friends of Harper Lake, the [BLM] plans to pump water
into the lake bed this spring to create a marsh-like desert oasis"
that will allow bird- and wildlife-watching.http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20943%257E1088220,00.html

"DRY LAKE TO BE WET AGAIN" (Barstow Desert Dispatch,
01/02/2003)
"Desolate and barren, Harper Dry Lake resembles the surface of a
different planet, with its rippled, white soil. But this spring, the dry
lake near Hinkley will change. With help from the nonprofit Friends of
Harper Lake, the [BLM] plans to pump water into the dry area to create
a marsh-like desert oasis"http://www.desertdispatch.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1041530853,98637,

"TORTOISE COULD BE DOOMED" (Los Angeles Daily News, 01/05/2003)
"The federal government has spent more than $100 million over the
past 13 years to protect the desert tortoise from extinction, but there's
no evidence the money and effort have done any good" despite buying
land for sanctuaries and restricting land use.http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20943%257E1091291,00.html

"FEDS: LOCAL LIZARD THREATENED, BUT WON'T GO ON LIST"
(Palm Springs Desert Sun, 01/06/2003)"In
September, the environmental community was trying to convince the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to designate the flat-tailed horned lizard as
a threatened species .... The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced
on Friday it would not consider the lizard threatened." Found on
BLM-managed lands in southern California and Arizona.http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories/local/1041825326.shtml

"STRIKING A BALANCE IN THE FOREST" (Los Angeles Times,
01/06/2003)
"Environmentalists, U.S. officials and loggers fashion a plan for
a small piece of the Sierra. Still, some warn of pitfalls to local efforts."
"Revolutionary" planning effort brings together locals including
loggers, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and BLM California's Folsom Field
Office manager.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-inimim6jan06.story

"A WIDENING FISSURE
BETWEEN STATE, FEDS" (Los Angeles Times, 12/26/2002)
"On pollution, forests, deserts, species and offshore oil, the political
contrasts are stark .... When it comes to placing a value on the environment,
California has rarely seemed so far from Washington, D.C."http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-enviro26dec26.story

"HABITAT CONVERSION
PERMIT DISCUSSION MAY KILL TWO LAND BUYS" (Chico Enterprise-Record,
01/08/2003)
"Butte County plans to require a permit when agricultural land is
converted to habitat have stalled purchase of 271 acres of farmland by
the Nature Conservancy." Supervisors cite loss of tax revenue and
effects on neighboring property owners. Agencies have been buying land
along Sacramento River for 15 years.http://chicoer.com/articles/2003/01/08/news/news3.txt

"SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR APPOINTS CARRIZO NATIONAL MONUMENT
ADVISORY COMMITTEE" (BLM California news release, 01/06/2003)
The Carrizo Plain National Monument has an advisory committee of local
citizens in place to advise the Bureau of Land Management on the future
of the monument. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton made the appointments
in Washington on December 30th.http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2003/01/nr/CCnews10_CarrizoAppts/Conv.htm

"MODOC-WASHOE STEWARDSHIP COMMMITTEE MEETS JANUARY 16-17"
(BLM California news release, 01/06/2003)
A panel featuring charter members of the Modoc-Washoe Experimental Stewardship
Program will present viewpoints on the successes and future of the organization,
when the committee meets Jan. 16 and 17 in Cedarville.http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2003/01/nr/NCnews24_espmeeting_jan16and17/Conv.htm

"BLM ISSUES FINAL RULE ON CONVEYANCES, DISCLAIMERS AND CORRECTION
DOCUMENTS" (BLM national news release, 12/24/2003)
The BLM issued a final rule that will allow any entity claiming title to
lands or an interest in lands to apply for a "recordable disclaimer
of interest." A recordable disclaimer of interest is an official determination
that the United States neither owns nor holds a valid interest in certain
lands.http://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2002/pr021224_disclaimer.htm

Related: "INTERIOR DEPT.
EASES CURBS ON FEDERAL RIGHTS OF WAY" (Washington Post, 01/07/2003)
"The Interior Department issued rules to make it easier for western
states and local governments to claim rights of way on hundreds of millions
of acres of federal lands, including areas now off-limits to roads, mining
and other commercial activity." Officials say rule will stop costly
litigation of conflicts between federal, state and local governments.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19482-2003Jan6.html

Related: "BUSH OPENS UP BACKCOUNTRY
TRAILS TO VEHICLES" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 01/01/2003)
"The Bush administration, in a move that has outraged environmentalists,
is about to hand a big victory to Westerners who want to use a post-Civil
War-era law to punch dirt-bike trails and roads into the backcountry."http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/102348_roads01.shtml

"LAWMAKERS WILL BATTLE INTERIOR OVER FUNDS" (Sacramento
Bee, 01/09/2003)
California congressional delegation angered by "precedent-setting decision"
to take $139 million payment to farmers for improper irrigation drainage,
from Department of Interior projects in California. "The delegation
said the money should be taken out of a Justice Department account set up
to pay for court judgments, not by cutting funding already set aside for
other programs."http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/story/5839486p-6805901c.html

"REPORT ON PUBLIC LANDS' OIL, GAS MAY SPUR DRILLING FIGHT"
(Salt Lake Tribune, 01/06/2003)
""The war over drilling in the West could get noisier this month
when federal land management agencies are expected to release an inventory
of oil and gas resources on public lands." Agencies say report will
help in weighing all options. Conservation groups say report requested by
energy companies will be used to open up sensitive areas to development.http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01062003/nation_w/17731.asp

WILDFIRE
PREVENTION

"RURAL FIRE ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM APPLICATION" (BLM California Web site)
Rural and volunteer fire departments that routinely help fight fire on
or near BLM- or other Department of the Interior-managed lands may submit
an application for BLM's 2003 Rural Fire Assistance Program. The goal
of the program is to enhance the wildland fire protection capabilties
of rural fire departments through training, equipment purchase, and iprevention
work on a cost-share basis. Applications are being accepted through February
7, 2003.
Minimum eligibility requirements are explained in the application package,
available online. (PDF file, 120 kilobytes):http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/pdfs/2003other/03_RFA_application_packet.pdf

"WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ALL THOSE BURNED LANDS IN WALKER AND COLEVILLE?
BLM FIRE REHABILITATION PROJECT UPDATE" (BLM California news
release, 01/08/2003)
One wildfire after another ripped through northernmost Mono County last
summer, destroying and threatening human lives and property. Thousands
of wild animals also lost their homes - 27,000 acres of wildlife habitat,
more than half of which was critical winter range for the West Walker
mule deer herd. Who rebuilds for them?http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2003/01/nr/CCnews11_BishopRehab/Conv.htm

"BLM
TO UPDATE MANUAL OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE
UNITED STATES"(BLM California news release, 01/03/2002)
The agency is developing the latest edition of the Manual of Instructions
for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States . The Manual describes
how cadastral surveys of the public lands are completed in conformance
to statutory law.http://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2003/pr030103_survey.htm

Related: "BRANCH OF GEOGRAPHIC
SERVICES" (BLM California Web site)
BLM California Web pages, including information on the Cadastral Survey
for the general public and more technical information for professional
surveyors.http://www.ca.blm.gov/cadastral/

WILDLIFE
TRIVIA ANSWER to: "How much food do shrews have to consume
each day in order to stay alive?"
Shrews have such a high metabolism that they have to constantly eat to stay
alive. Some have to eat more than their body weight each day!
A shrew-mole is not a shrew, but a mole. Learn more it, in the BLM California
Wildlife Database:(Note: see comment on "secure Web server" under Selected Upcoming
Events below.)https://doi1.ios.doi.gov/blmcawildlife.nsf/siteurl/50738385?OpenDocument

SELECTED
UPCOMING EVENTS(PLEASE NOTE: the
Upcoming Events database is now on a more secure Web server, and your browser
may state "You are about to view pages over a secure connection" and
ask you to "Trust a Security Certificate" from the Department of Interior
that hosts this site. To view the pages, you must select "Yes" or "OK"
for both questions.)

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